


The Merywell Tavern (Livy's draft)

by etherealword_s



Series: The Merywell Tavern [1]
Category: Merywell Tavern, The Merywell Tavern
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, F/M, Lesbians, M/M, Medieval Tavern, Original Character(s), Original Fiction, Tavern
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:13:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28295118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/etherealword_s/pseuds/etherealword_s
Summary: The Merywell Tavern. A rest stop for tired sailors and weary pirates, and a second home for Rayne Freebrook. Join her as she sails with pirates, fights corrupt kings, and meets a mysterious girl in the flower fields.
Relationships: Anya Merywell and Sean Mcgufferly, Rayne Freebrook and Juno MacDermia
Series: The Merywell Tavern [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2072529
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	1. The Girl In The Flower Fields

**Author's Note:**

> This draft is mine, but me and my friends have collectively created the characters and plot! Here are those amazing friends and their tiktoks:  
> Beth (original creator of the tag and creator of Anya Merywell) - @blakes.world.of.fandoms_  
> Maria (creator of Juno MacDermia) - @butterfly_arson_pancakes  
> Kerry (creator of Eden Addington) - @kerry.cosplays  
> Violet (creator of Amber Jones) - @violet_is_helpless  
> Mia (creator of Azur Waterstone) - @pixi_plays  
> Neve (creator of Agnes Goldheart) - @sixx.n.blitz  
> Elise (creator of Esmeralda Stone) - @cheesy_cosplayer  
> Ruby (creator of Arabella Morgan) - @strawberri_milk_gang  
> Jack (creator of Sean Mcgufferly) - @deus_vultium  
> Livy (me lol, creator of Rayne Freebrook and this draft) - @etherealworlds
> 
> Enjoy!!

There’s a small breeze that blows through lover’s field, lifting Rayne Freebrook’s long, cocoa hair off her shoulders. She sits under a big tree with long branches, with beautiful leaves and flowers decorating them. A journal sat in her lap as she wrote of daring princesses who swam with mermaids, who tamed dragons, who found gold. Her imagination was one of the only constants in her life, something she knew she’d always have.   
For hours the only sound that filled the field was the sound of Rayne’s pencil scratching paper, so she was surprised when she heard footsteps.  
No, not just footsteps. A girl, muttering curse words. Rayne turned her head and met the girl’s piercing hazel-eyed gaze.   
Rayne quickly looked away from her eyes, they were terrifyingly angry. The girl’s golden hair was in a braid resting on her shoulder, a red bandana wrapped around her head. She was wearing a black dress with flowers dotted across the fabric, and black combat boots that were ripping at the seams.  
They just...stared at each other for a moment before Rayne spoke.  
“Are you ok--”  
“Leave me alone.” she muttered as she sat down by a patch of azaleas, facing away from Rayne.   
Rayne stood there for a beat, opened her mouth, closed it, then decided to sit back down by the tree. She opened her journal and continued writing.   
They sat in silence for a while, until the girl said, “Do you know why the tavern is closed today?”  
Rayne looks up from her notebook, ripping herself out of her fictional universe.  
“Hm?” A piece of hair covers one of her eyes and she brushes it away.   
“The tavern.” she repeats, seeming annoyed. “It’s closed today, do you know why?”  
“I um...no sorry. I don’t go to the tavern much.” she says, still a little distracted from her story.   
The girl sighs and crosses her arms, muttering something under her breath.  
“Is...everything okay?” she added, growing a little worried. Rayne knew Anya, the owner of the tavern’s daughter, since childhood. And she knew how Mr. Merywell could be.   
“How would I know?” the girl snaps. “And of course you don’t know why it’s closed if you don’t go there, I’m guessing you’re too much of a goody-two-shoes to touch any alcohol.”  
Rayne narrows her eyes. “Well aren’t you a ray of sunshine.” she mutters.  
The girl bites the inside of her cheek, glaring.   
“So I’m assuming you usually go there when you’re pissed?” Rayne says after a few moments.  
“Excuse me?”  
“I’m assuming that when you need to blow off steam you go to the tavern. But it’s closed so you thought being an asshole to the girl in the flower fields would fit fine.”   
The girl blinks, she wasn’t expecting that.  
“If you’d like, instead of being rude you can just tell me what’s wrong.” Rayne closes her notebook. “I don’t have much going on at the moment.”  
The girl sighs.  
“I just...I fucking hate this place.”  
Rayne raises an eyebrow. “Well I can agree with you on that, Miss....” she trails off, waiting for her name.  
“....Juno. Juno MacDermia” The girl finishes.  
“Rayne Freebrook. Pleasure to meet you.” she smiles once again.   
Juno’s mouth curves up, the slightest bit. 

After the sun had set and Juno had left, Rayne finished writing a sentence and made her way to the tavern. Ignoring the closed sign, she goes through the front door.  
The tavern was usually warm and inviting, but there was barely anyone there today. Tables littered with empty beer bottles and creaky chairs painted the floor. The fireplace to the right of Rayne was lightly crackling, weak after a long day. An empty stage was to the left, where a musician usually sat playing their lyre, or singing an old folk song. But it was quiet today, save for the sound of a drink pouring into Anya Merywell’s cup.  
“Rayne-drop!” Anya’s face lights up and she runs toward Rayne, tackling her in a hug as Rayne’s laugh fills the ghost town of a tavern.  
“I haven’t seen you in weeks!” Anya says, taking Rayne’s hands. “Where have you been?”  
“This might surprise you,” she says sarcastically, “but my mom--”  
“Ugh of course it was your mom.” Anya groans, dragging Rayne to the back of the tavern, going behind the bar and grabbing an empty glass. “What can I get ya?”   
Rayne puts a hand up. “No, no, I’m good. I just wanted to make sure everything was okay since the tavern was closed.”  
Anya takes a sip of her own drink before saying, “Mm, yeah, that. My dad is away on business or something. Pity.” she pops the P, grinning at her. “So I just needed a day to get everything settled, I’ll open it up tomorrow.”  
“Hey...do you know a Juno?” Rayne says, tapping her fingers on the bar table absentmindedly.   
The barmaid thinks for a moment. “Yeah. She comes quite a bit, but she isn’t much of a talker. Why?”  
Rayne shrugs. “Just wondering. She came to the flower fields today.”  
“Hm. Odd.” she takes a hasty sip of her drink before pulling up a chair next to her friend, “Speaking of the flower fields, have you written any new stories yet? I know you go there to write.”   
And so Rayne told Anya of the stories she wrote that day, the mystical fantasies she wished she lived herself. But even as she told her friend about the worlds of princesses and magic, of escaping from small towns, she couldn’t tear her mind away from the girl in the flower fields.


	2. The Merchant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eden Addington, merchant, meets Rayne and Anya at the tavern. A familiar face from the flower fields show up...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy!!  
> This draft is mine, but me and my friends have collectively created the characters and plot! Here are those amazing friends and their tiktoks:  
> Beth (original creator of the tag and creator of Anya Merywell) - @blakes.world.of.fandoms_  
> Maria (creator of Juno MacDermia) - @butterfly_arson_pancakes  
> Kerry (creator of Eden Addington) - @kerry.cosplays  
> Violet (creator of Amber Jones) - @violet_is_helpless  
> Mia (creator of Azur Waterstone) - @pixi_plays  
> Neve (creator of Agnes Goldheart) - @sixx.n.blitz  
> Elise (creator of Esmeralda Stone) - @cheesy_cosplayer  
> Ruby (creator of Arabella Morgan) - @strawberri_milk_gang  
> Jack (creator of Sean Mcgufferly) - @deus_vultium  
> Livy (me lol, creator of Rayne Freebrook and this draft) - @etherealworlds
> 
> Enjoy!!

The day begins early for Eden Addington. It always does. Wake up at five thirty, get to the marketplace at five forty-five, get all set up by one minute before six. But at five forty-three, as she was making her way to her way to the center of town, books upon books piled into her arms, something stopped her.  
Beyond the long, evergreen vines that furnished the buildings surrounding the square, stood two guards. And in front of them was a young man, his hands up in surrender as pieces of gold fell from his pockets. A huge crowd surrounded them, the talk of hundreds of mouths and the glare of thousands of eyes baring down at the sight.  
Eden swore under her breath and immediately turned around, praying that she could leave without drawing attention to herself. Whenever a theft or crime went around the central marketplace, they investigated everything, they investigated everyone. Not that this merchant had anything to hide....but it wasn’t worth the risk. The guards were cruel, and they often looked for a reason to arrest someone.  
But this was no problem. Eden would work this out like she worked out anything else. She began to walk ahead, going as fast as she could without looking like she was running. She just needed somewhere to go, somewhere with people and food because gods she was hungry--  
The Merywell Tavern. Perfect.  
“We don’t open for another fifteen minutes.” A young woman’s voice spoke as Eden walked through the doors. The woman’s orange hair was up in a messy bun, her bangs ending just above her russet eyes. She wore a dark green dress with long sleeves, with a dirty white apron on top of it. Eden noted all of this with intent to figure out her economic situation, figure out what price she should strike up when talking to her.  
“Do you mind if I sit in here until it opens? I won’t bother you.” Eden responds as she quietly closes the door.  
“That’s fine!” Another voice, this one upbeat and chipper, comes from the back of the tavern before the other woman could respond.  
“Rayne, I will never understand how you have this energy at six in the bloody morning.” The woman with the apron, Eden guessed she was the barmaid, said.  
The upbeat girl, Rayne, started to walk towards Eden with a concerned but intrigued expression.  
“That’s a lot of books.” Rayne said as she gently took some and placed them on a table. “Big reader?”  
Eden senses interest in the girl. “Not particularly, I’m selling these actually. Usually I go to the market but...change of plans. Are you?”  
The barmaid laughs. “You could say that.”  
Rayne rolls her eyes. “Oh Anya, can it.” she turns back to Eden. “Yes I am a big reader. And a writer.” she adds, then looks back at the books. Her eyes gleamed with interest, shined like she was looking at a pot of gold. “You said you’re selling those?”  
~  
“I don't mean to sound rude, but you are probably one of the most gullible buyers I’ve ever encountered. And I’ve been doing this for years.” Eden said, as Rayne put almost half of the books she bought on the table. The seller wouldn’t usually say something as upfront as that to a customer, even though she had a no-return policy, but it had been almost half an hour from when she started telling Rayne about the books, and she oddly knew for certain the girl wouldn’t get angry.  
Rayne laughs a little. “Yeah I guess...but these stories sound wonderful.” She opens one and flips through the pages, a curtain of hair covering part of her face as she looks down at the book.  
The tavern had transformed into another universe entirely since it opened. The once empty tables were filled with pirates and townsperson alike, the silence that screamed at Eden when she walked in earlier now was replaced with the sound of cups clanging together, friends talking and chuckling, and the voice of a performer on the stage to the left of them.  
Eden forgot what this place was like. She hadn’t been to the tavern in...she couldn’t even recall.  
But she wished she had.  
The music, the energy, the people, the life that vibrated from the floor to the walls to the ceiling, was a distant memory Eden hadn’t remembered in a long time.  
“Excuse me.”  
Rayne turned around the quickest, realizing that was Juno’s voice.  
“Can I get a drink please? Your books are covering the table--” Juno sees Rayne and falters, her mouth half open and her eyes flashing with recognition.  
They just...stared at each other for a moment before Rayne spoke.  
“Yeah! Yeah, sorry I’ll move this--” She grabs her purchased books off the table and puts them behind the counter, catching a glimpse of Anya’s amused face.  
“You two know each other?” Anya asks with a smirk.  
Juno looks up, her face turning a little red. “No--”  
“Cause it seems like you do--”  
“Anya why don’t you take her order?” Rayne clears her throat, glancing at Juno for a second before looking away again.  
Juno’s golden hair is in a bun, her red bandana wrapped around her head. She seems tired, her shoulders drooped lower than her usual confident stance, and her eyes don’t look so intense, at least not as much as they did yesterday.  
Eden stands up, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.  
“Leaving so soon?” Juno mutters, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.  
Eden finishes her drink and puts a silver down on the table. “I’ve sold more than enough for a single location, so I’ll probably go back to the market now. It was nice meeting you all.”  
Anya gives her a dazzling smile. “You’re always welcome back at the tavern.”  
Eden can tell she says that a lot to customers, but it seemed genuine. She waves before leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Next chapter should be up sometime in a week!


	3. The Room of Memories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This draft is mine, but my friends and I have collectively created the characters and plot! Here are those amazing friends and their tiktoks:  
> Beth (the original creator of the tag and creator of Anya Merywell) - @blakes.world.of.fandoms_  
> Maria (creator of Juno MacDermia) - @butterfly_arson_pancakes  
> Kerry (creator of Eden Addington) - @kerry.cosplays  
> Violet (creator of Amber Jones) - @violet_is_helpless  
> Mia (creator of Azur Waterstone) - @pixi_plays  
> Neve (creator of Agnes Goldheart) - @sixx.n.blitz  
> Elise (creator of Esmeralda Stone) - @cheesy_cosplayer  
> Ruby (creator of Arabella Morgan) - @strawberri_milk_gang  
> Jack (creator of Sean Mcgufferly) - @deus_vultium  
> Livy (me lol, creator of Rayne Freebrook and this draft) - @etherealworlds
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> This chapter is a little longer than the first two :D

Rayne didn’t expect Juno to come back to the flower fields.   
She did.   
Almost every day for the past couple of weeks. At first, she didn’t say anything, ignoring Rayne with a glare, she would just sit against the tree across from her and stay silent. Then after a while, she’d ask her what she was writing or reading, and Rayne would tell her. Then Rayne would ask her about her day. And they would just...talk.  
Juno wasn’t as mean as she wanted everyone to believe.   
Sure, she was scary as hell, especially if she was mad. But Rayne believed underneath she was just like everyone else. A little lost, that was all.   
Now it’s half past noon, about an hour when they usually met up, and Rayne sat in her bedroom, staring at herself in the mirror, trying to get a knot out of her hair. She couldn’t just go out in public like that, it’d be unpresentable.   
Well, she’d gotten the knot out a while ago. Now she was deciding whether or not to tie it back in a ponytail. She also decided to do her makeup a little extra today. Just her lips, and a little bit of blush on her cheeks. And her clothes. Gods, why didn’t she have anything nice to wear?  
“Rayne?” Laria Freebrook’s head peaks through her door with a knock and her daughter jumps in her seat, dropping her lipstick, rose pink splattering on her dresser.   
Rayne whips her head around, feeling as if she was caught in an act, although she did nothing wrong. She smiles at her mother. “Hey, mom. Everything okay?”  
Laria raises an eyebrow and wears a small smirk, looking Rayne up and down as she walks toward her... “New dress. Makeup. Brushed the hell out of your hair…” she runs a hand through it. “Do you have a date?”  
Rayne laughs. Of course not, that was ridiculous. She just wanted to try something new. “No! No, I’m just seeing a friend at the flower fields. Just trying a different look, I guess.”  
Her skeptical look increases. “Uh-huh. A friend.”  
Rayne laughs again and stands up, slipping her shoes on. “I’m telling the truth!”  
Laria purses her lips, lacing her hands together in her lap. “Okay...well...you are at that age where you could start looking for a husband--”  
“Mom!”   
“Okay, okay. Go have fun with your friend. Have good manners with him and remember--”  
“Home by sundown. I know.”   
Rayne rushes down the stairs, in case her mom decides to ask anymore fun questions. She opens the door and the warm air flies through the house, smelling of spring. The season was almost over, the increasingly hot weather told her that much, but they still had a week or two left.   
She walks toward the tavern, stopping there first. It was busy as always, but today Anya had some help.  
“Rayne!” Agnes Goldheart runs toward her, dropping a goblet of beer on a nearby table, not noticing--or rather, not caring--that it spilled all over a customer, and jumped at her, wrapping her into a hug.   
Rayne laughs as she tumbles back a little, barely keeping herself standing.  
“Rayne!” She repeats as she looks at her, cupping her face and inspecting it as if she was a doctor. “Where in the galaxies have you been?”   
“Agnes, you said you were going to work for me today--” Anya’s yell cuts through the bustling sounds of The Merywell Tavern and Inn.   
“I am! Am I not allowed to take a break--”  
“This is the third break you’ve taken this hour--”   
“Okay, okay. This is the last one. I promise.” Agnes says before turning her head back to Rayne and taking her to an empty table.   
“So, tell me--” Agnes stops and tilts her head, looking Rayne up and down. “You look rather nice today. Do you--”  
“No, I do not have a date.” Rayne guffaws. “Am I not allowed to dress up for myself?”  
Agnes pretends to think to herself. “No.” she deadpans, then breaks back into giggles.   
“I do not have a date, I’m just--”  
“Going to the flower fields with Juno?” Anya slides into the chair next to Rayne, smelling of mead and the sea.   
“What happened to not taking breaks?” Agnes crosses her arms.   
She ignores her and waits for Rayne’s answer.   
“Yes. I am going to the flower fields with Juno.”   
“So it is a date?” Anya asks, genuinely.  
Rayne looks at her, aghast. She did this all the time. “No! Anya for the love of--I’m not--”   
“Yeah, yeah.” Anya waves her hand in dismissal.   
“Who’s Juno?” Agnes questions.  
“She is a friend that I met at the flower fields.” She stresses the word friend.   
“That you’re wearing lipstick for?” Agnes feigns confusion.  
Rayne rolls her eyes. “You are both impossible. She is a friend. I don’t even like girls--” she holds her hands up and stands. “I’m leaving now. Agnes, it was nice seeing you again. I’ll be back an hour after sunset.”   
~  
Juno sits in the lighthouse, holding a lantern and looking at the pictures that painted the floor. This place was like a museum, photos and objects filling it. In front of her was her dad’s favorite picture of them, one from...it must have been at least ten years ago. Jonathan MacDermia’s hand was on his daughter’s shoulder. The red bandana-like ribbon that Juno always wore, in fact, it sat on her head now, was wrapped around his arm.   
She could never quite remember when he had given it to her, when it had started to belong to her instead of him.   
All sorts of objects were here, too. To the right of Juno was a deck of cards, a Queen of Hearts spilling out with the initials B.F. on it. Next to that was an empty vase, a couple of dead leaves at the bottom. But what littered the old lighthouse the most was journals. Notebooks, scattered pieces of paper, there wasn’t a spot that wasn’t covered in them. Some of the ink was faded, it could have been written centuries ago. Some of it looked brand new. Most of them had liquid stains on them, the color too tinged to be water.   
The whole room was a puzzle, one that must have been from Jonathon’s past. But she couldn’t understand how to connect the pieces. It’s not like she could ask him.   
So Juno left the lighthouse the same way she always did. Walking across, watching her feet in case she’d step on something breakable. Opening the creaking door and letting the wind blow out the candle in the lantern.   
She walks the couple of steps it takes to get downstairs, looking out at the ocean from the dirty window with a glare. It was another level of cruelty that she had to live near it, have to see it every time she woke up and looked outside. The scowl she threw at it was angry, it was mournful.  
How much those waves had taken from her.   
“Juno? Is that you? Your mother wants to talk to you.”  
Juno’s scowl deepened.   
“I’m going out, dad.”   
“But she hasn’t seen you in so long--”   
Juno steps outside and closes the door before he can finish, making her way to the flower fields, already trying to forget what just happened and continue with her day. 

Gods she was pretty.   
They’re sitting next to each other under a willow tree, the long branches with light pink leaves flowing down so far they almost created a sort of tent around the trunk, Juno and Rayne inside. Rayne was telling Juno about something that happened at the tavern, but Juno didn’t process much of what she was saying. They were sitting right next to each other. So close their legs brushed up against one another, so close some of Rayne’s hair rested on Juno’s shoulder. Juno could smell her perfume, could see her makeup, the rose on her cheeks and the pink on her lips…  
“Juno?” Rayne’s voice rips through her thoughts.   
“Hm?” She says, trying to remember what Rayne was talking about.   
“You...good?”   
She scoffs, giving her a little push with her shoulder. “Yeah, why?”   
Rayne smiles again. That stupid, perfect smile. “Okay, well...I finished my draft last night. I was wondering if I could read it to you? Get some advice?”   
Juno nods, swallowing the lump in her throat. Why was she so nervous?  
Rayne opens her journal and starts reading. Her eyes shine with passion, interest, and imagination. Juno had never seen anyone look at words the way she did. And it was good. Really good. By the time she’s finished, the sun is setting.   
“That was...amazing,” Juno says, honestly as she turns to her.  
“Really?” Rayne seems hesitant to grin, like she doesn’t believe her.   
“Really.”  
“I’m glad you like it.” she smiles, and the nervousness in Juno’s stomach started to soar, and soon all she could focus on was the pink in Rayne’s lips.   
“W-What--why do you like doing that?” It comes off harsher than she means to, like an accusation. “Sorry--I just--I don’t know I’ve never thought about doing anything like that. Is there a certain reason you like it?”   
Rayne’s smirk is back. “Didn’t know I’d ever heard you apologize to anyone.”   
Juno rolls her eyes. “Well enjoy it, cause you won’t hear it again.”  
She scratches the back of her head, intertwining her hair in her hands and playing with it a little. “I don’t know, I just...I guess I like the idea of being somewhere other than here? When I’m writing, it’s almost like I’m in the story sometimes.”   
“What. you don’t like the heaven that is Lunatica?” her voice is laced with sarcasm.   
“No, I--I like it here. I do. I like the tavern. I like coming here with you--”  
Juno turns her head, pretending to look at the sunset, hiding her blush. It was hot, that’s why her cheeks were turning red.   
“--But I just...I want to do more. I don’t want to stay here my entire life, get married to some guy, have kids, settle. I want to publish bestsellers, I want to sail the sea, I want to meet mermaids.”   
“You do not want to meet mermaids, trust me.” Juno waves her hand.   
“You’ve met one?” Rayne’s smile grows.  
“Yes, and they are full of themselves and bossy and impatient and--”  
“Sounds like someone I know.” Rayne nudges her with her shoulder.  
“Shut up!” Juno nudges her back with a laugh, and Rayne lets herself fall down to the soft grass, her hair sprawling above her like flames of a bonfire.   
Juno hesitantly lays down next to her, and they look up at the sky together. Petals from flowers flew in the air like snow, like confetti. The sky was a sea of blue decorated with pink, red, yellow. It was beautiful. 

Juno walks back to the lighthouse, her arms wrapped around each other as she strides through the streets. The sun has completely gone down now, it was dark save for the lights coming from the buildings around her.   
She opens the door slowly, but the place is old and the creaking reveals her.  
“Juno? Is that you?”   
Juno lets out a long breath, running her hands down her face. “Hey, dad.”   
“How did it go?” she can’t see him, he’s in the next room, but she can hear his smile.   
“Fine. I went to the flower fields, it was...nice.”  
“I’m glad. Won’t you come here for a moment?”  
Juno purses her lips and walks into the room to see her father alone in the room, sitting in a chair. One hand is resting on the armrest of the chair next to him, which was empty. His hand was clasped, but he wasn’t holding anything.   
He turns to the empty chair, smiles, then looks back to Juno.  
“Juno, don’t be rude. Say hello to your mother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Next chapter up in a week or two.

**Author's Note:**

> New chapter at the latest next week!  
> Comment what you think!!


End file.
